WV Renaissance Festival AAR
Our busy June is done, and it has left scars
How do!
This was our third year of vending at the WV Renaissance Faire. I’ll be honest, every year I have a mixed response to vending. This was our first time doing all three weekends we were available, taking time off for Libertycon (Which saved us from the hottest weekend, but also the record high attendance.) That meant it was going to be a crazy June with heavy physical tolls on us and lots of stress from weather, our setup and just making it work.
I wasn’t wrong.
Now, I’m going to say this:
For guests of the WV Ren Fest, it is a fabulous time with great acts, shows, demos and entertainment. The jousting is always fun. As good as any dinner at “Medieval Times”. I’ve always heard great things about the food and drink there too. There’s Hawks Knob distillery that runs a bar and does a bang up job. The musicians are unique and quite skilled. (We got to sample most of what they had to offer because of where we were situated, right next to the Harper’s Hollow stage and overlooking the jousting arena.) We were also downwind of some delicious smelling food supplied by a really high quality butcher in the area, Swift Level Meats. I must recommend them if you want organic beef and other related items.
So that’s the good. You should come as a guest. It’ll be a great time, even though you will hike up and down a lot to see it all.
I will warn those with limited mobility you will run into difficulty getting to many of the acts that are in the back of the festival as you must hike up the mountain (really steep hills) a bit to get to it.
Weather-wise, it was not as hot as previous years, but it made up for what it lacked in heat with bad weather and oppressive humidity, if it wasn’t a thunderstorm. I got sunburned. Every day. Even through our canopy. Shade is plentiful in over half the venue, but in the most populated sections, you best bring a parasol. We saw lots of them. Sunscreen up if you’re so inclined.
The downside for guests is that the food and refreshment is a bit expensive after paying the entrance fee. As always, get your Scotch Eggs early. They unfortunately run out fast even when they overstock. They’re just that popular.
As for our experience vending, it was rough as I said before.
Our location was part of an experiment by the organizers to change the path of guests, but unfortunately it didn’t work, and we were hidden from view, cutting foot traffic significantly, and being on the slope, it seemed many did not want to risk the walk to our tent. People wanted to stick to the gravel paths, no matter how hot they were on it and did not look around much to notice a whole row of vendors. This cut everyone’s sales down that line.
Due to some recent health issues/injuries that affected setup/teardown… it was a grueling ordeal for us. Our site was located on a fairly steep slope just off the main paths of traffic. There was no way to find a level spot. This resulted in muscle and joint problems for us on top of the physical exertion and many near falls. The rain also made the ground muddy and slick. Thankfully I suggested we get some rugs to lay out and it saved us from some of the dangers.
Every rainstorm, and there were some heavy downpours on several days, resulted in us needing to button up our sides, tight to protect our merchandise which resulted in no sales for hours, even after the rain stopped. Worse than a rain delay at Talladega.
We also had to make an approximation of a medieval tent because we don’t own one. We don’t go to enough ren faires to make the purchase worthwhile. So the darling bride cobbled sides together out of painter’s tarps. They looked quite good according to other vendors who know a thing or two about them. But they also didn’t quite do the job and were HEAVY when wet (almost every day). Plus to keep them from molding, we had to bring them home on Sundays and wash them.
The darling bride and I suffered heat prostration just about every day, even with all our preparations. We were well hydrated but sweated out our own body weight and had electrolyte problems. This lead to cramping, bad body aches and made sleeping difficult. A week later and we’re still suffering.
Every morning we couldn’t get there without something interrupting our preparations and result in a long bout of fussing, cussing and frustration. We watched the clock tick down to where we couldn’t get our car in to prepare for the show. (no, we’re not hauling over 100lbs of goods, a quarter mile, up a gravel mountain road with a wagon made for pavement.) Thankfully we always made it, but not without high anxiety. We had to pack up everything into the car every night too, because books and stuffies do not survive exposure to weather on a working farm very well. (Yes, live chickens, goats and a cow do wander through once the gates close at night. They keep the grass short.)
The good news was that we sold out of stuffed bats, to the point where the Darling Bride had to make 12 more bats! We sold all the Morris games except our demonstrator bag. I’ll have to string more of those before September. We also thought the new stuffed squirrels would sell, but again, the taste of the crowd wasn’t into that this year. Next year, more bats, possibly some more enchanted frogs. (I must admit that the stuffed bats were distinctive enough that even the organizers saw them all over and were really happy to see them.) The books didn’t move too much even with 3 new ones, which one of them was a dragon anthology.
Deadly Flames: Dragons In Combat
Go figure.
Normally this event is our crown jewel. We usually have a much higher profit margin, but for several other reasons outside the organizer’s control, vendor sales for souvenirs and crafts were down as much as 75% for most vendors. Some were so frustrated they left early. Most of us blamed the economy. With such uncertainty and inflation killing every guest’s disposable income, only the food and beverage vendors made bank. I’m very glad for them. People came for the shows and treats.
Our sales were down similarly going into the last weekend, we were fairly certain that this was going to be the end of us attending the festival. Even with living 15 minutes away and drastically cutting back our costs, we were hurting. And it would have been, if not for, amazingly, we broke even for the whole event on the very last day, saving what was going to turn into a very bad event into something we could weather. Still, we were leaning toward not returning if we would be stuck in a similar location having the organizers come talk to us the last day.
They had been watching and were very disappointed in what they witnessed happen to that row of vendors we were in. There was nothing they could do about the public’s spending habits this year, but we talked to them about the specific problems we had regarding location and product needs. We’ve been assured next year that they would address these.
Both the Darling Bride and I were impressed with how seriously they were taking it and steps they were already considering. Our makeshift accommodations cannot suffice so they’ve promised us to be put in a permanent structure that they have on a high traffic route.
So next year? We’ll see, but now, instead of leaning against, it seems we’re leaning for. We’ve got till Dec 15th to give our answer.
And that’s how the WV Renaissance Festival shook out for us this year.
Till next time. Vaya con Dios!